Another day, another sports-gambling scandal. This time it’s Major League Baseball: Two pitchers were indicted on charges related to rigging bets on their throws. Our main disappointment from a comms perspective was that, at first, the league released only a perfunctory statement. But then it took some more substantive action.

The indictment was unsealed on Sunday in federal court in Brooklyn, New York. Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz, both pitchers for the Cleveland Guardians, are accused of throwing certain types of pitches to rig so-called in-game prop bets. They earned relatively small amounts of money for this, but unnamed gamblers from the athletes’ native Dominican Republic raked in $460,000, according to the Associated Press.

After detecting a high level of in-game betting activity when Clase or Ortiz was on the mound, MLB suspended the players in July. Ortiz appeared in court on Monday and was released on a $500,000 bond; Clase is believed to be outside the U.S.

‘Fully Cooperated’

The league’s initial statement on the indictment was disappointing: “MLB contacted federal law enforcement at the outset of its investigation and has fully cooperated throughout the process,” it said. “We are aware of the indictment and today’s arrest, and our investigation is ongoing.”

Normally, it’s good crisis communications to issue a statement saying you’re aware of a situation and are investigating, as MLB’s does, but this is a crisis calling for a more fulsome response. Professional sports has a gambling crisis on its hands, and fans need to know the leagues are taking it seriously and addressing it.

Our colleagues from the Crisis Communications in Sports podcast tweeted on Monday morning that MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred “must address the fans directly to empathically denounce the misconduct and reaffirm the game’s integrity.” Lo and behold, shortly after Ortiz’s court appearance that day, MLB announced it was doing something: It reached an agreement with its sportsbook partners to cap prop bets on pitches at $200 and ban parlaying them (combining two or more wagers into a single bet).

Micro-Bets

“Since the Supreme Court decision opened the door to legalized sports betting, Major League Baseball has continuously worked with industry and regulatory stakeholders across the country to uphold our most important priority: protecting the integrity of our games for the fans,” Manfred said in MLB’s statement announcing the change. The league pointed out that “micro-bets” on pitches are more susceptible to “integrity risk” than other prop bets because they involve only one player — the pitcher.

The AP quoted lawyers for both players vehemently denying that they had done anything wrong. Still, the situation has MLB joining other leagues’ sports-gambling scandals. Last month, a coach and players for the NBA were arrested in a gambling sweep. And mixed martial arts’ UFC is investigating unusual betting surrounding a fight earlier this month.

Image Credit: MLB

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